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Get leaf peeping! Maples lead the fall color lineup in Kentucky this year

Autumn is here, and if you feel like apple orchards are overhyped, it’s time to switch it up and visit a pumpkin patch. Here are some of the best ones in the country. Buzz60's Nathan Rousseau Smith (@fantasticmrnate) has more.

Japanese maples come in many varieties and offer spectacular color for Kentucky gardens.(Photo: Courtesy of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens)

This is the time of year when we look out the window and hope to see fall colors like those pictured on the refrigerator calendar or that fancy screensaver. And while here in the Bluegrass we don’t get quite the colors of Bob Newhart’s Stratford Inn, there’s still plenty to enjoy all through a good Kentucky autumn.

The reason we all immediately think of New England when it comes to fall color is the high percentage of the native forest there that is made up of maples. That characteristic bright color, combined with the deep green of the evergreens and the white bark of birches, is the magic recipe that each fall launches a million tour buses.

Like New England, there are also maples that grow in the wilds of Kentucky. It’s just that they are not as prevalent and concentrated, not to mention that we don’t have the balsam firs or white-barked birches. But there is a healthy list of maples that grow perfectly well here that can be used to amp up the fall color across Kentucky.

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) – Might as well just start off at the top! Sugar maple is one of the most common maples in the New England forest and grows in the wild in Kentucky as well. It is a large tree – up to 60 feet tall or more, with an upright oval crown and platey gray bark. When it comes to fall color, there’s not much that can top this native. While it can vary quite a bit from tree to tree, the display is usually a spectacular mix of yellow, orange and red ... with some occasional burgundy mixed in for good measure. This is a tree that likes a reasonably good soil and nice, even moisture. It is not a tree for thin and droughty soils.

Red Maple (Acer rubrum) – Despite its common name, red maple does not have red leaves through the whole growing season. Summer foliage is a bright green with a grayish cast to the leaf back. But in the fall it can put on quite a show with, well, red fall color. You can occasionally find some red maples with yellow or orange color but most, including all the named cultivars, are bright red. Some of the most common varieties that shine with red fall color include ‘October Glory’ and ‘Red Sunset’.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) – Obviously not a native, this is nonetheless a stunning addition to our fall landscape. Japanese maples come in hundreds of varieties from 4-foot tall dwarfs to lace-leaf forms, columnars, green leaf and red leaf forms. But most put on a splendid show in fall. There are bright golds, oranges, reds and many that offer a glowing mix.

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) – This Kentucky native is not a great landscape tree because of its enormous size and weak-wooded nature. But it will grow just about anywhere including flooded areas, making it an important stabilizer of stream and river banks. But a native stand in full golden-yellow color can make quite a show this time of year.

While there are scores of other maples that can be used to pump up the fall show in Kentucky, you can just consider those covered here as the favorites of the Straford Inn's Larry, Darryl and Darryl!